1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile terminal and, more particularly, to a mobile terminal with a metallic element at an outer surface of a terminal casing that can be used as an antenna.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a mobile terminal with an internal antenna, in which an antenna that transmits or receives radio signals is installed, rather than being protruded to outside of the mobile terminal, to make the mobile terminal aesthetically fine, is widely used.
However, such a mobile terminal with the internal antenna has a problem in that because the antenna is installed in the terminal, a space for mounting the antenna should be secured within the terminal, and in this case, the antenna installation position is limited to avoid a frequency interference with other components, resulting in the increase in the thickness and size of the mobile terminal.
Thus, in order to solve such problem, a method for using a metallic external object that may be mounted on an outer surface of a terminal casing is being developed.
However, the use of the metallic external object as an antenna requires a connection member for electrically connecting the metallic external object serving as the antenna and a printed circuit board (PCB) with a communication module mounted thereon. This causes the necessity of securing a space for installing he connection member within the terminal and also a fastening structure for fastening the connection member. Thus, the thickness and size of the terminal are still increased.